--Kristy Hartley-Galbraith
God is ever present in our lives, even in times of trial when we struggle to let our light shine. It was at a recent baptism when God made his presence known and not in the way you might think.
After the official baptism, the children were handed candles to represent letting their light shine in the world. Since it was an outdoor event, the wind made it challenging to keep the candles lit. In that moment, a few people came towards the candles to create a wall against the wind and hands went up to guard the fragile flames.
God certainly doesn’t expect our light to shine at its brightest every moment of every day. Life is full of challenges and frustrations as well as a great many joys to praise and celebrate. When our light begins to dim, we can lean on church members, family and friends to create shelter from the winds. At one point during the baptism ceremony, one of the children’s flames went out completely and her brother leaned his candle down and relit her wick. In that moment, Pastor Tim reminded us all that we aren’t meant to shine God’s light alone.
If our individual flame gets blown out by the raging winds in our lives, we can look to someone else’s light. Our wick can be relit and we can shine our light again.